Cultural diversity is a reality in many outsourcing companies, and because of this, companies are embracing diversity in the workplace by holding diversity workshops and similar activities. The most basic definition of cultural diversity is when differences in race, ethnicity, language, nationality, religion, and sexual orientation are represented within a community. In the case of companies, they are said to be culturally diverse if their employees and management include members of different groups.

People from different races, religions, etc. have different life experiences, and this influence how they do work and solve problems. These differences can help a company become stronger, more efficient if they are valued and integrated into the company’s organizational culture and group dynamics.

Employees should be encouraged to practice open-mindedness about the value of cultural differences.

Innovent employs software development professional’s from the Philippines to work for its various clients in Australia, Japan and the UK. It ensures that the strengths of its Filipino employees are maximized – professionalism, intelligence, efficiency – but at the same time they are taught to become familiar with the work ethic and culture of the clients they serve. Innovent respects the principles of cultural diversity and aims to directly benefit from it, while at the same time ensure that its Filipino employees also gain from working with international clients in terms of learning and experience.

How does diversity drive profitability?

In 2003, the European Union Commission studied 200 companies and determined that there were three areas wherein diversity mattered: marketing, operations, and innovation.

According to the EU study titled Assessing Diversity, diversity helps in marketing as having a diverse workforce builds trust in a company’s brand with a diverse target market.

Diversity management is essential for small and medium-sized enterprises in attracting customers and securing contracts, especially when dealing with public institutions and large companies that have procurement and supplier diversity policies.

Valuing diversity also cuts costs. How? Because it helps reduce turnover and absenteeism. It can also help companies avoid legal costs. Companies should adopt diversity-friendly policies as this encourages employee engagement: employees see that the company understands and respects different cultures. When it values diversity, a company gains the freedom to pursue the most talented people throughout the world.

Diversity also helps increase innovation. When the diversity within a product development team is aligned with changes and trends in diverse target markets, the team can more successfully create new products that satisfy the markets’ needs. This is said to be so because a diverse workforce better understands these trends precisely because they share the values

At Innovent Offshore we believe the benefits of dual shore software development with the Philippines makes complete sense. Our dual shore approach gives you the confidence with a local account/project manager based in Sydney. Coupled with the offshore benefits of a technical workforce based in the Philippines. Excellent communication, 2-3 hour time difference, large pool of skilled labour to name a few of the benefits. Contact Innovent today to find out how this approach and diverse workforce will revolutionise your software development needs and spur on local team motivation and productivity.